A Bridge to the Mainland

This book is not just about me. It's about life, relationships with parents, siblings, children, and friends. It's about addictions, it's about you, and most importantly, it's about change. I will be surprised if you can't find yourself somewhere in this book. I promise you at the end of the book, life will seem easier. It's about taking back control of your life, not letting drugs, alcohol, or people have control of you. I am not a celebrity. I am a regular person who became addicted to drugs because I didn't have the courage or the knowledge to take charge of my life and to be positive. A large well-known medical center in the southeast took me on as a case history. I learned so much from Dr. D and Dr. Arielle Kogan and the other medical staff and want to share it with you. In the book, I tell what it feels like to be addicted to opioids. I talk about going through withdrawal and counseling and what happens in group therapy, and I share private counseling as well. I have changed the names of the patients, family members, and friends as not to cause embarrassment. I am not using my real name. I wrote the initial draft of this book forty-three years ago when everything was fresh in my mind. I put the book on the shelf, and there it lay for forty-three years, collecting dust as there was no ending, and the time was not right. Now with the opioid crisis, the time is right, and the book now has a happy and surprising ending.